Dr. Amy Woodworth is a professor of multiple courses in the Writing Arts department, so she is probably recognizable to many of you readers. However, you may not know that she is also the current chair of Rowan's Writing Arts department. I became aware of this while attending her Senior Seminar: Methods of Analysis and Evaluation of Writing course. Learning about this made me curious, as I was unaware of what being the chair really meant and what it entailed, so I decided to ask Dr. Woodworth about her role and the department. If you would like to see a more visual summary of the interview below, you can click here. MHC: What is your role as chair of the Writing Arts department? AW: “While any chair is considered the formal leader of a department, this department is definitely led by our awesome faculty collectively. I see myself as a steward who maintains the health and well-being of the department: beyond all the logistics of stuff that just has to happen (faculty need to be hired, students need to get into classes, etc.), my role is to help make people’s experiences here fulfilling and hopefully create an environment where they can be their best possible selves as writers, students, teachers, researchers, and community members.” MHC: How did you become the chair of this department? How long have you been in this role? AW: “Chairs are voted on by the faculty, and their terms are three years. This is one of the more democratic parts of university structures, at least for administrative roles. I am completing my second year of my first time right now!” MHC: What do you enjoy most about being the chair of the Writing Arts department? AW: “I love being a cheerleader and getting to recognize, celebrate, and promote our faculty and students! And I really love problem-solving and helping people. Not everyone likes this analogy, but I’m basically the department mom, and I am good with that. This role has allowed me to get to know our undergraduate students better; there are so many that I know pretty well at this point without even [having] them in one of my classes.” MHC: How would you describe the Writing Arts department and/or its members? AW: “Passionate! In every regard! They care about each other, and they care about the world. They recognize both the personal and the social importance and power of writing. They are always striving to grow and learn…I find our members humble but also always ready to brag on each other!” MHC: What are the goals of the members of the Writing Arts department? AW: “Can I cheat on this one and direct you to our vision and mission statements on this page? https://ccca.rowan.edu/departments/writingArts/” (Here you will find the Writing Arts department’s new motto: “Writing Arts: Making marks that shape the world” and its pledge to give both students and staff the ability to study, critique, and understand writing in order to create a better world. The department wants its students to be responsible and to have transformative experiences during their time at Rowan.) MHC: What makes Rowan’s Writing Arts department different from that of other universities? AW: “We are the only Department of Writing Arts in the country, at least by that name! Having an independent writing department outside of English allows writing and communication to take center stage rather than literary analysis, and it gives us the space to address a wider range of writing and writing contexts, from scientific writing to humor writing to DIY self-publishing.” MHC: What is one fact about the Writing Arts department that students may not know? AW: “We are one of the first independent writing departments in the country (housed outside of English). See point above: we are the only Department of Writing Arts in the country!” MHC: What courses would you recommend to incoming students? AW: “I think this really depends on the student and their passions! Usually I try to learn the kinds of writing they are into and then make recommendations, such as Writing the Young Adult Novel, Worldbuilding, Writing About Pop Culture, or Environmental Writing & Rhetoric, but there are so many practical classes that work for all of our concentrations, such as Editing for Publication. I definitely recommend getting out of your comfort zone and taking writing courses outside of your concentration: so many alumni comment on the ways that learning about technical writing made them a better creative writer and vice versa. I think most students are surprised…..” MHC: What is the difference between receiving your BA and MA in writing arts? AW: “The BA provides a strong foundation in writing and editing across a variety of genres, but the MA provides a deeper dive into craft and coaches students through writing much longer works (such as novels). MA students work on a long project over the course of an entire year, which enables them to reach significant goals while staying with the same mentors/advisors through the duration of the project. Getting an MA also qualifies people to teach at the college level, which many MA graduates go on to do.” MHC: What scholarships can writing arts students look forward to? AW: "We offer an Emerging Writers Scholarship to four-year students; the minimum award is $1000 per year for four years.” MHC: What writing groups can students join? AW: “The primary one is the Writing Arts Club; they do writing-based activities at meetings and often collaborate on projects and publications together, including a zine. Other relevant student organizations and publications are Avant, the undergraduate literary journal; Halftone, a student-run (and written) online magazine on pop culture; and The Whit, our campus newspaper. Our online humor magazine RU Joking? is also student run, though it doesn’t focus on student writing.” As a professor and chair of the department, Dr. Woodworth works hard for both students and staff in order to make the Writing Arts department the best it can be. With this brief interview and look into the Writing Arts department, I hope that people can come to appreciate her efforts both inside and outside the classroom. McKenna Harris-Colvin
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